As co-chair of Foley Hoag’s Energy, Cleantech & Climate Group, and head of the firm’s Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development Practice, Mark Barnett has an extensive business law practice focused on the energy and cleantech sectors. Mark works closely with clients developing innovative technologies and business approaches to solving energy and sustainability challenges, advising emerging and high growth companies in all aspects of strategic development, financings and acquisitions, intellectual property and industry-specific regulatory and policy matters. He also leads the firm’s renewable energy project finance practice with a particular focus on solar energy project development and finance, working with a broad range of developers, project sponsors and investors in this dynamic and growing sector.
Mark advises renewable energy project sponsors and developers in all aspects of project development, acquisitions, financings, fund formation, partnerships and joint ventures and regulatory issues. His experience includes tax equity portfolio financings, debt financings (including back leverage transactions), complicated joint ventures, various M&A transactions and innovative financing vehicles. Mark also serves as investor and lender counsel in distributed renewable energy financings. His project finance and development experience spans solar, energy efficiency, wind, hydropower, fuel cells, waste-to-energy and other DG renewables.
Mark’s prior experience includes time in government as counsel to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, a quasi-public state agency that supports the development of clean energy technology (now known as the Connecticut Green Bank). Mark also served as Vice President of Business Development & General Counsel at Sun Catalytix Corporation, where he helped the company raise over $17 million in equity and non-dilutive financing and then helped shepherd the company as outside counsel through a successful sale to Lockheed Martin Corporation. Mark draws on these and other experiences in the business and governmental arena to serve as a strategic and business advisor to clients.
Mark advises a number of innovative initiatives at the intersection of charitable and mission-driven activities in cleantech and climate change mitigation sectors. Among other activities, he advises the PRIME Coalition and the Aligned Intermediary as pro bono counsel. Mark also advises national leading groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund and Ceres on clean energy policy and climate mitigation investment strategies. In addition, he is a frequent speaker across the country on topics spanning renewable energy project finance, clean energy policy and impact investing, and spends time mentoring emerging cleantech ventures through such organizations as MassChallenge and Clean Tech Open.
Energy, Cleantech & Climate